Improvement in cloth-folding machines



J. D. COTTRELL.

` CLOTH-FOLDING MACHINE.

No, 182,171, j Pazenrearsept. 12, 187s.

llllllllln Hliiil UNITED PATENT 'QEEEGE JEssE D. oo'rrEELL, or rAWrUcKEr, RHODE rsLAND.

`IMPROVEMENT IN CBLOTH-FOLDINGA IlIIACHINES.`

specification farming part of Letters Patent N0.'1s2,vl7 l, dated september 12,1876; application mea Mayeuero.

T0 all whom it ,may concern:

Be it known that I, JEssE D. Go'rTRELL,

of Pawtucket, in the county o f Providence and` State of Rhode Island, have invented certain newpand usefnl Improvements in Cloth- Folding Machines; and I do herebydeclare that the following specification, taken in connection with the drawings furnished'and forming a part of the same', is a clear, true, and complete descriptionof my invention.

My invention, in part, consists in the combination, with suitable jaws, of a folding-table centrally mounted on a transverse sh aft,which moves vertically with the table, and is supported by springs, whereby the pressure of the table against the jaws will be increased in'proportiOn to the thickness o f folded fabric interposedbetween the table and the jaws.

A quadrant lever and weight has heretofore been employed in asimilar combination but the liftin-POWer of the weight andits quad` rant lever applied for compressing the folded fabric between theultable .and the jaws is not variable, as is 'the case lof the springs applied in accordance with my invention.

As heretofore, I employ a holdin g-j aw clothed with elastic vulcanized rubber, whereby a firm hold is had. uponthe fabric without liability of such injury thereto as in practiceresnlts from the use of teeth and corrugated surfaces as heretofore commonly employed in .this connection. My invention also *consists in the combination, with a folding-table centrally mounted, and rocking on a transverse" shaft, which is supported by springs, anda` pair of suitable holding jaws, of a `parallel pair of folding-knives, each of which `isarranged to operate with the table and a holding-jamie separately and rigidly mounted on 4a pair of pivoted standards,"and which 'are simultaneously vibratedffrom jfaw to jaw and over the table, whereby the fabric passing between the edges of the two knives is delivered alternately'to each of the jaws and vfolded therein.

In foldingLmachinesas heretofore constructed I am aware that similar folding-knives have been employed, in combination with jaws lifted by cams, and a table susceptible of being gradually lowered by means of gearing for provid- ,ing for the increasing bulk of the folded fab ric between the jaws and the table.

n vertical section.

My invention further consists of the combia l nation, with the "folding mechanism, of tensionbars, two of which' are stationary, and

co-operate with an intermediate bar, wliich'is verticallyadjustable, whereby a proper tension on the fabric is readily maintained. The A faces of the bars'may bel scored diagonally, as hereafter described, for the purpose ofspreadand smoothing the fabric. My invention also consists in the combination of :folding mechanism Nand a delivery or sand roll, with a roll-pulley connected with the sand-roll by a ratchet and pawl, whereby the roll 5may be driven by its pulley. and yetf be free to`be rotatedfwhi'le the vfabric is drawn over the roll preparatory to starting the machine.

To more particularly describe my invention,

I will refer te the accompanying drawings, in

vvhich-`-` Figure 1 represents, in perspective, a machine embodying Vmy improvements. Fig. 2

represents theV same inY longitudinal central A denots the side plates, and athe end plates, which constitute the frar'neof the machine. B denotes the driving-shaft, mounted in boxes supportedV by the side `platesmear one end'of the machine. At each'endof this shaft is a crank? wheel, b, which" is ybalanceweighted, asshown. The machi'necan be driven'by a belt applied -to one of the ,crankl wheels, lor to an additional shaft (not shown) lconnected by gearing to t-he driving-shaft B.

C and Gdenote reciprocatingfolding-knives, which have a length'somew'hat" greater than the fullwidth of the machine. `Each foldingknife is rigidly, but adjustably, mounted on ltwo standards, c, which arein turn mounted on a transverse rock-shaft, d, at the bottom ofthe machine.` The voperative edges of the two knives are coincident, and sufficiently separated from each other to aord betweenV them the free reception of the fabric toA be folded. At each side of themachine the 'standards c of both knives are linked together, as at e,

and are `connected on each side by a pitman,

f, with a crank-wheel, b. The rotation of the main shaft imparts a reciprocatingl movement to the knives, and each knife moves in the arc of a circle, of which its respective rock-shaft d is the center. The pitmen j' are connected to the crank-wheel by a crank pin, ywhich is radially adjustable in the crank-wheel, and it is also susceptible of being shortened orlengthened by means of a screw-thread thereon and a tapped sleeve, as clearly shown.

D denotes the ,fbldingtable It is nearly dat on top, and is preferably clothed with felt. At each end the table is curved downward, for affording a proper surface for. contact with the mass of folded edges of a fabric, when interposed by the knives between the curved ends and the holding-jaws E, which are attached to the frame of the machine, and have faces which correspond, generally7 with the curved surface of the table. In practice, these jaws are adjustably mounted upon the frame of the machine. The folding-table is mounted on a central transverse rock-shaft, g, which is mounted upon two vertical rods, h, each guided in two bearings, t', which project from the inner sides of the frame. Each vertical rod h is encircled by an expansive spiral spring, la, which has a support upon the lower stationary guide-bearing i, and an abutment at its upper end against a collar, l, which is secured to the rod by a set-screw for purposes of adjustment. As a result of' this construction, it will be seenthat either end of the table may be deected, and that the rock-shaft and springs afford a f'ulcrum whereby the opposite end j ofthe table will be forced upward with a pressurecorrespondingwith the downward pressure expended in deiecting., It will also b e seen that, normally, the pressure ofthe springs will be equally distributed, so that both ends of-v the table will bear with uniformity against the `coincident surfaces of the holding-jaws. For bodily depressing the table, a treadle, F, is employed, which is connected centrally to the rock-shaft g by a rod, m,v as clearly shown.

The holding-jaws of folding-machines, as heretofore constructed, have been provided with longitudinally-corrugated surfaces, or with teeth, variously formed and arranged, for securing control of the fabric. In practice, such machines are liable to, and do often, injure the fabric more or less by tearing it. A`novel feature of my invention consists in clothing the contact-surface of the holdingjaw with elastic vulcanized rubber, as at it, which results in securely holding the fabric Without any liability ot' injuring it.

G, in each instance, denotes a guiding-rod. The cloth passes on the way to the foldingknives beneath the lower rod and over the upper one, and, as heretofore, they are provided with guiding-collars o, one at each end of the rod. It is of great value that the cloth, as fed, should be maintained at proper tension. For attaining this object I .have devised a simple and readily-adjustable device, which not only secures desirable tension, but also performs the function of laterally smoothing the fabric. The guiding-rods G are mounted on a pair of inclined standards, p, which are supported by the side plates of the machine. Between the two rods is my tension device.

It is composed of two parallel stationary trans- 5 verse bars, H, and a movable bar, I, which is f provided with arms q, pivoted to the standards p. At each end of the movable bar I is an adjusting-screw, r, whereby the lower surface of the bar may be set at any desired elevation with relation to the upper surfaces of the bars H, the bar I occupying a space intervening between the stationary bars. As a tension device only, the surfaces of these bars may be smooth, and the tension increased lor lessened by the adjustment of the movable bar. As a spreading or smoothing device, the upper surfaces of the stationary bars and the lower surface of the movable bar are angularly corrugated or scored. It will be seen that from a point midway between its ends each bar is scored diagonally, and that the scores on one end of the bar incline upward and to the right-hand side of the machine from the lower-edge of the bar, and

vice versa on the other end, and also that` each score has a sharp edge on the side thereof farthest from the center of the bar, so that,

as in 4stretching-machines heretofore con-l structed, having si milarly-scored surfaces, the cloth is smoothed by passing over and between the bars. s

K denotes a delivery-roll, usually provided with a sanded surface, and called a sandroll, over which the fabric is conducted to` the folding-knives. A similar roll has heretofore been employed, -It is driven by a belt from I,the adjacent crank-wheel b. As heretofore constructed this roll could only be rotated by its belt, or by slipping thereunder. One portion of my invention relates to mounting this roll in such a manner that it can readily be rotated by pulling on the cloth, and also be capable of being driven by its belt after the cloth has been adjusted and thefolding-knives in operation. This is accomplished by loosely mounting the sand-roll pulley s on the rollshaft, and connecting it thereto by means of a ratchet and pawl, as at t, fully shown in Fig. l.

When cloth is folded from a cloth-beam the l journals of the beam occupy the bearings at u, on arms projecting'from the rear of the ma- Y chine. When folded from a simple roll, the cloth is put into the box L beneath the sandroll. V'Ihis boX is mounted ou the bottom of a table hinged to the machine, and, when in use, is held with its open side upward' by hooks, as at o. When cloth is folded from irregularly flatly-folded pieces, the box-table is lowered, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and the cloth laid upon the table.

In operation, the end of the fabric, when in rolls, is taken over the sand-roll, and drawn forward, (the roll freely revolving,) passed under the lower guide-rod G; thence between the bars H and I; thence over the upper rod Gr, downward between the folding-knives, and adjusted between the front end of the table and its holding-jaw, after which the machine is started.

the tension device.

When the fabric is delivered from a folded piece it may be passed directly under the lower guiding-rod, and not over the sand-roll.

1t will be seen that'each of the knives opcrates in conjunction with one of the jaws, and that they alternately control tbe fabric. The knife C operates in conjunction with the front jaw, and knife G with the rear jaw, beneath At each jaw the inactive knife passes freely above and beyond the jaw,

while the active knife passes below and be.

tween the jaw and the table, carrying with it the fold of the fabric, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The means of adjustment are such that the lengths of the folds will be long or short, as desired, and, by applying any wellknown registering apparatus, the length of each piece of cloth therein folded may be ac- -curately determined.

It will be seen that the jaws cannot possibly injure the fabric, while having a capacity for securely holding it, and that the compression on the fabric at the folds increases in proportion to the increase in the number of folds laid between the table and the jaws.

I am aware that it is not new to hinge folding-knives to pendent arms, coupled together and arranged to vibrate simultaneously.

My folding-knives are much simpler and less expensive than those which are attached to a rocking and vibrating head-block, as heretofore, and, as believe, are much more accurate and reliable in operation.

Having thus described myinvention, I claim ,as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a cloth-folding machine, the combination, with suitable jaws, 'of a folding-table, centrally mounted, and rocking on' a transverse shaft, which moves vertically with the table, and is supported by springs, substantially as described. l

2; A table, centrally mounted, and rocking on a transverse shaft, which is `supported by springs and suitable holding-jaws, in combination with a pair of parallel folding-knives, each of which is arranged to operate in conjunction with one end of the table and a holding-jaw, is rigidly mounted on a pair of pivoted standards, which are linked together, and simultaneously vibrated on their pivots, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the folding mechanism, of stationary tension-bars and an intermediate adjustable bar, with or without JESSE D. GOTTRELL. Witnesses:

PHILIP F. LARNER, A. B. GAULDWELL. 

